1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasound system and, more particularly, to an ultrasound system that allows a user to adjust the height of a control panel with a contact detection unit detecting contact of the user and a power transmission device capable of performing a brake operation with electric power.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an ultrasound system refers to a non-invasive apparatus that irradiates an ultrasound signal from a surface of a patient body towards a target internal organ within the body surface and obtains an image of a monolayer or blood flow in soft tissue from information in the reflected ultrasound signal (ultrasound echo-signal). The ultrasound system has been widely used for diagnosis of the heart, the abdomen, the urinary organs, and in obstetrics and gynecology due to its various merits such as a small size, a low price, real-time image display, and high stability through elimination of any radiation exposure, as compared with other image diagnostic systems, such as X-ray diagnostic systems, computerized tomography scanners (CT scanners), magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatuses, and the like.
Particularly, a conventional ultrasound system includes a control panel, through which a user can select measurement modes and functions, and optimize an ultrasound image displayed on a screen of a display unit. The control panel includes a touch screen which displays menus for optimizing an ultrasound image displayed on the screen of the display unit and provides a function of selecting the menus displayed thereon, a track ball which is used to move a cursor displayed on the screen of the display unit and provides a function of searching images from Cine-images, a keyboard which is used to input text and provides short cuts according to the measurement modes, and the like.
Here, it should be noted that the above description is not given for illustration of a conventional technique to which the present invention pertains, but for understanding of the background of the present invention.
A conventional ultrasound system includes a mechanical manipulating device such as a lever to adjust the height of the control panel. With this configuration, when a user adjusts the height of the control panel during ultrasound diagnosis, the conventional ultrasound system requires the user to halt diagnosis and manually adjust the height of the control panel with the lever, thereby providing inconvenience to the user. Therefore, there is a need for an improved ultrasound system that overcomes such a problem.